Amy McCulloch's mountain-set thriller Breathless is perfect winter read

The book has to have thrills, spills, murder and mystery – AMy McCulloch’s Breathless – set in the world of mountain climbing – fits the bill perfectly.

The synopsis: a journalist joins a once-in-a-lifetime climbing expedition, but as thefts, accidents and ominous notes mount, the most dangerous threats seem to lie within the group in this gripping, high-altitude thriller from the author of The Magpie Society series.

It is inspired by Amy’s experienceof climbing to the summit of Manaslu – the world’s eighth highest mountain at 8,163metres – that's nearly six miles highs – three years ago.

“My overwhelming emotion was one of relief. Relief that the two years of hard work and training and preparation had paid off. Relief that the weather had held out for us – in fact, more than held out, it was perfect, with low wind and a beautiful sunrise high above the clouds, a candy-coloured fantasy world made real. It was everything I had dreamed of during those long nights at base camp. I had done it,” she said.

“But the summit moment was all too brief … I made my way carefully off the summit and headed a few paces to a small plateau, where Kasang Tensi Sherpa (my climbing partner) and I stopped to catch our breath. The altimeter on my watch read that we were still up above 8,000m – the official point where the ‘Death Zone’ begins, the terrifying term for the place where there’s too little oxygen in the air for life to survive.”

The words formed the prologue of the debut thriller out in paperback now.